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INDEX
Off-reservation casino
A new lease
on
Thank you for article
Band
Leech Lake Leadership
NEWS AROUND INDIAN COUNTRY
2
killed in final days of
life at 140?
on Leah and
members
v **>* ^4HH
To Do List: 1. Reorganize
NEWS BRIEFS
3
Bush era
Run-a-muck Garbow
air views
mr'~
under rules that will serve
and protect the people
COMMENTARY/EDITORIALS
4-5
CUSSIFIEDS
7
page 5
page 4
page 4
page 4
Bj^ JH
page 4
Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Shig student
killed, suspects in custody
By Bill Lawrence
Seventeen year old, Terrell Lee
Wilson, a senior at the Bug-O-
Nay-Ge-Shig, died Sunday of stab
wounds. The stabbing occurred
near Ball Club Minnesota. Two
teen-age boys, their identities
withheld, are being held as
suspects in the case.
Wilson was initially taken
to Deer River Medical Center.
He was later transferred by
ambulance to St. Mary's Medical
Center in Duluth.
Itasca County Sheriff Pat
Medure said personnel from
his office are investigating the
2 teen-agers
arrested in
stabbing
death
Bemidji Pioneer
BALL CLUB, Minn. - Two
boys from Deer River, 16
and 17, have been arrested
in connection with a fatal
stabbing in the northern
Minnesota town of Ball
Club.
The boys, whose identities
were not released by the
Itasca County Sheriff's
Department because of their
juvenile status, have been
detained in the stabbing
death of Terrell Lee Wilson,
17, of Ball Club early Sunday
morning.
Sheriff Pat Medure said
the suspects and the victim
were acquainted with each
other. "As for the details
of the altercation, we're
still trying to piece that
together," he said.
Wilson was stabbed in the
eye at the intersection of
Itasca County Road 39 and
Ball Club Lake Drive. Ball
Club is a small community
located about eight miles
west of Deer River on U.S.
Highway 2.
DEATH to page 5
details ofthe attack. He believes
the suspects and the victim
were acquainted. The suspects
fled the scene on foot. They
were stopped later en route to
Grand Rapids where they are
currently being held at the
Juvenile Detention Center.
The two boys, one 16, the
other 17, are from Deer River.
One ofthe suspects was charged
Tuesday in Itasca County. He
faces felony charges— two
counts of second-degree
murder and three counts of
third-degree assault.
Services to commemorate
Terrell's Wilson life will be held
at the Ball Club Community
Center. The wake, starting at
4 p.m.Thursday, will continue
until the funeral at 11 a.m.
Friday.
Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Shig School
Superintendent, Jeff Lindstrom
said Terrell had enrolled just last
fall. As a member ofthe school
family he will be mourned.
School students will be released
from studies early Friday to
attend the services. The school
will in the afternoon for staff in-
service programs. The school
will provide bus transportation
to and from the funeral for any
that wish to attend.
Two men indicted in assault cases
on Red Lake Indian Reservation
Two Red Lake men were
indicted yesterday in federal
court in unrelated cases all
involving assaults on the Red
Lake Indian Reservation.
In the first case, Ronald
Dean Oakgrove Sr., 42, was
charged Dec. 13 with one
count of maiming and one
count of assault resulting in
serious bodily injury. Oak-
grove's indictment alleges that
on Dec. 15, 2008, he did with
intent to torture, main and
disfigure, pour scalding water
and food upon a victim. It also
alleges that Oakgrove did assault the victim resulting in
serious bodily injury.
According to a Federal Bureau of Investigation affidavit,
on Dec. 15 Oakgrove grabbed
a pot of boiling water, grease
and beef, and dumped it over
the victim's head. Oakgrove
then left the residence saying,
"I hope you die!"
The victim was treated for
ASSAULT to page 5
American Indian College Fund
Turns 20 Years Old
Applications for Designated
Scholarships open late January
ByJeanPagano
The American Indian College
Fund turns twenty years old
this year. In 1989, the American
Indian College Fund (AICF)
distributed its first scholarships
to tribal college students. Today,
the AICF offers approximately
5,000 scholarships annually.
The AICF is the third largest
source of scholarships for Native
students, with only Pell grants
and tribal scholarships offering
more funding.
Do Native students really
need scholarships to attend
college? While the answer to this
question in not universally "yes",
many Native students rely on
scholarships to make a college
education a reality. The average
recipients of AICF scholarships
are non-traditional students -
these students have dependents,
work full-time, are over the age
of 24, or combinations of these
three characteristics.
The average income for first
FUND to page 5
In shrinking economy, Red Lake
Band bets on expansion
By Chuck Haga
RED LAKE, Minn. — Cuts,
retrenchment, caution—those
may be the guiding words
across most of Minnesota these
days as the economy shudders.
But the Red Lake Band of
Ojibwe Indians is betting on
expansion.
Betting is the key word.
With a $31 million loan from
the Shakopee Mdewakanton
Sioux Community, Red
Lake has broken ground on
a new Seven Clans Casino
at the southern edge of the
reservation, hoping to draw
more gamblers from nearby
Bemidji and the surrounding
region.
The new casino will be just
seven miles closer to Bemidji
and U.S. Hwy. 2, but positioned
at the border it may seem less
intrusive to visitors as well as
residents of the often insular
reservation. It will replace a
small, makeshift gambling hall,
a former community center at
the heart of Red Lake.
The casino project, scheduled
to be completed by the end of
this year, also will provide the
isolated reservation with a
hotel and upscale restaurant,
among other amenities long
lacking here.
Band operates two other
casinos
Red Lake operates Seven
Clans casinos in Thief River
Falls and Warroad, Minit, and
recently paid off loans that
had financed expansions and
upgrades there. The three
operations reported a combined
net income of nearly $6 million
in 2007 while employing nearly
900 people.
"We have three small
operations, but we seem to
be doing all right," Red Lake
Tribal Chairman Floyd (Buck)
Jourdain said. "We haven't been
so affected by what's happening
with the economy."
A little more than two-thirds
of the $31 million loan will
go toward the new casino
complex, to be built according
to a traditional Ojibwe "long
house" design. It will include
$he all-suites hotel, restaurant
and banquet hall, as well as
an entertainment center and
gift shop. A later development
could wrap a golf course and
powwow grounds around the
complex.
Jourdain said the project
won acceptance from the
6,000-member band "because
it's not all centered on
gaming."
The hotel, restaurant and
meeting areas will nurture
other businesses on the
reservation, he said, and
the project as a whole "will
Convicted tribal members fined,
banned from reservation
By Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
SAN MANUEL INDIAN
RESERVATION - In an
unprecedented move, Chairman
James Ramos has announced
his tribe's decision to fine two
convicted tribal members linked
to a murder conspiracy and ban
them from the reservation.
Decisions made by the tribal
council, composed of all tribal
members over age 21, typically
remain private matters within
the tribe and are never made
public.
Ramos said the tribal
council's Dec. 13 decision to
ban Stacy Barajas-Nunez, 26,
and her brother, Erik Barajas,
36, from the reservation and
fine them a "considerable"
amount of money for disorderly
conduct speaks volumes to the
tribe's position of holding its
members accountable for errant
behavior.
"This isn't just lip service. This
is action in force," Ramos said.
"We're actually taking action
and showing through action,
with overwhelming support, to
impose fines and bans on our
own tribal members."
Ramos wouldn't disclose how
much the Barajases were fined
or how long they will be banned
from the reservation.
He did say the tribe is enforcing
its decision and working with
the San Bernardino County
Sheriffs Department and the
District Attorney's Office to
ensure that Barajas-Nunez and
Barajas remain in compliance.
Barajas' San Bernardino
attorney, Chuck Nascin, declined
BANNED to page 5
Red Lake man
pleads guilty
to burglary,
assault charges
A 48-year-old Red Lake
man pleaded guilty yesterday
in federal court to using a
machete in an assault and
multiple burglary charges.
Robin Greg Kelly Sr. pleaded
guilty to two counts of first-
degree burglary and one count
of assault with a dangerous
weapon. Kelly entered his
plea Jan. 15 in St. Paul before
United States District Court
Judge Richard Kyle. Kelly was
indicted on April 8, 2008.
According to Kelly's plea
agreement, he admitted that
on Dec. 22, 2007, he entered
the residence of his estranged
GUILTY to page 5
VOICE OF THE PEOPLE
web page: www.press-on.net
Native
American
Press
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
A weekly publication. Copyright, Native American Press, 2009
Founded in 1988
Volume 20 Issue 17
January 15, 2009
Courtesy of DSGW. Drawing of the entry
lobby of Seven Clans Red Lake Casino
create more employment and
allow us finally to do a lot of
infrastructure work that we've
needed, including new roads
and a new water system."
Will pay off other debts
About $9.2 million ofthe loan
will allow Red Lake to pay off
debt on other recent projects,
including a law-enforcement
center and a new greenhouse,
and to return the existing
casino to its original purpose
as a family-friendly community
center.
The project's primary aim
is to boost visitor traffic and
gaming revenue, but "this is
going to be for us, too," Jourdain
said. "Right now, you can't
buy a steak anywhere on the
reservation." The restaurant,
hotel, meeting rooms and other
areas will be accessible to Red
Lake members "without ever
setting foot inside a gambling
CASINO to page 5
DAKOTA
PHILOSOPHER
Charles Eastman, American Indian Thought
By David Martinez
Charles Eastman straddled two worlds in his
life and writing. The author of Indian Boyhood
was raised in the traditional way after the 1862
U.S.-Dakota War. His father later persuaded him
study Christianity, and attend medical school.
But when Eastman served as a government
doctor during the Wounded Knee massacre, he
became disillusioned about Americans' capacity
to live up to their own ideals.
While Eastman's contemporaries viewed him
as "a great American and a true philosopher,"
Indian scholars have long dismissed Eastman's
work as assimilationist. Now, for the first time,
his philosophy as manifested in his writing is
examined in detail. David Martinez explores
Eastman's views on the U.S.-Dakota War,
Dakota and Ojibwe relations, Dakota sacred
EASTMAN to page 5
Tribes want
more American
Indians on
federal bench
By MICHAEL R. BLOOD
Associated Press
PALM SPRINGS, Calif. —
Leaders of California's politically
powerful Indian tribes are
pressing the incoming Obama
administration to appoint more
American Indians to the federal
judiciary.
Nearly 900 judges sit on
the federal bench throughout
the country, but government
records show only one claims
American Indian ancestry -
Frank Howell Seay, a senior
district judge in Oklahoma.
In a meeting in Washington
last month, tribal leaders urged
President-elect Barack Obama's
transition team to elevate
more Indians to the federal
courts and to move quickly
on appointments at the U.S.
Bureau of Indian Affairs.
"We need federal Indian
judges," Richard Milanovich,
chairman of the Agua Caliente
Band of Cahuilla Indians, said
at an annual Indian gambling
conference. "There are very
qualified Indian attorneys who
could fill those jobs."
"I'm very optimistic about
our new leadership, since he's
our first president to actually
include tribal leaders in his
considerations," Milanovich
said. "I was very much
encouraged by the fact the
transition team took the time
to meet with tribal leaders."
That was echoed by Lee
Acebedo, executive director of
the California Nations Indian
Gaming Association, who said
the federal bench needs more
judges well versed in Indian
issues.
TRIBES to page 6
Chief: Washington presence
necessary to ensure success
By Teddy Snell Snell
Tahlequah Daily Press
Cherokee Nation Principal
Chief Chad Smith was unable to
give his state ofthe nation address
in person Monday night; however,
he conveyed a strong message to
the council via videotape.
Two weeks ago, the tribe
reported giving $50,000 to the
inauguration of President-elect
Barack Obama, which was
"approved by the administration
and the tribal council," according
to Communications Director
Mike Miller.
Shortlyaftertheannouncement
appeared in the media, several
tribal councilors - including
District 1 Councilor Bill John
Baker - said they didn't approve
such an expenditure. During his
video address, Smith made it
clear the decision was vital to the
CHIEF to page 5
Tribal leader lauds North Dakota
legislative work
By DAVE KOLPACK
Associated Press Writer
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) _
A temporary North Dakota
legislative committee that
focuses on relations between
Indian tribal governments
and the state should be made
permanent, the chairwoman
of the Spirit Lake Nation
believes.
Myra Pearson, speaking
Thursday to a joint session of
the North Dakota House and
Senate, said discussions in
the interim Tribal and State
Relations Committee have
helped promote state aid to
tribal colleges, sharing of oil
and gas tax revenue, and state
income tax exemptions.
"The positive relationship
that has been forged between
the tribal nations and the state
of North Dakota has, in recent
times, produced legislation
resulting in positive changes
and a continuing strengthening
of our relationship," Pearson
said.
The committee's chairman,
Rep. Merle Boucher, D-Rolette,
the House minority leader,
said the panel's meetings are
productive even if they don't
necessarily lead to legislation.
Boucher's district includes
the Turtle Mountain Band of
Chippewa reservation.
"The protocols and the
processes of tribal government
are different than state
government," Boucher said.
"So when we visit back and
forth, we learn how each other's
governments work."
North Dakota's Legislature
meets in odd-numbered years,
typically from January until
mid- to late April. When the
Legislature isn't in session,
interim committees study
selected issues and draft bills
for possible consideration.
Permanent interim
committees are rare. During
the last interim between the
2007 and 2009 sessions, there
were 26 interim committees,
only seven of which were
permanently established in
state law. The authorization for
the Tribal and State Relations
Committee ends Aug. 1.
Boucher and Sen. Richard
Marcellais, D-Belcourt, agree
WORK to page 7

INDEX
Off-reservation casino
A new lease
on
Thank you for article
Band
Leech Lake Leadership
NEWS AROUND INDIAN COUNTRY
2
killed in final days of
life at 140?
on Leah and
members
v **>* ^4HH
To Do List: 1. Reorganize
NEWS BRIEFS
3
Bush era
Run-a-muck Garbow
air views
mr'~
under rules that will serve
and protect the people
COMMENTARY/EDITORIALS
4-5
CUSSIFIEDS
7
page 5
page 4
page 4
page 4
Bj^ JH
page 4
Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Shig student
killed, suspects in custody
By Bill Lawrence
Seventeen year old, Terrell Lee
Wilson, a senior at the Bug-O-
Nay-Ge-Shig, died Sunday of stab
wounds. The stabbing occurred
near Ball Club Minnesota. Two
teen-age boys, their identities
withheld, are being held as
suspects in the case.
Wilson was initially taken
to Deer River Medical Center.
He was later transferred by
ambulance to St. Mary's Medical
Center in Duluth.
Itasca County Sheriff Pat
Medure said personnel from
his office are investigating the
2 teen-agers
arrested in
stabbing
death
Bemidji Pioneer
BALL CLUB, Minn. - Two
boys from Deer River, 16
and 17, have been arrested
in connection with a fatal
stabbing in the northern
Minnesota town of Ball
Club.
The boys, whose identities
were not released by the
Itasca County Sheriff's
Department because of their
juvenile status, have been
detained in the stabbing
death of Terrell Lee Wilson,
17, of Ball Club early Sunday
morning.
Sheriff Pat Medure said
the suspects and the victim
were acquainted with each
other. "As for the details
of the altercation, we're
still trying to piece that
together," he said.
Wilson was stabbed in the
eye at the intersection of
Itasca County Road 39 and
Ball Club Lake Drive. Ball
Club is a small community
located about eight miles
west of Deer River on U.S.
Highway 2.
DEATH to page 5
details ofthe attack. He believes
the suspects and the victim
were acquainted. The suspects
fled the scene on foot. They
were stopped later en route to
Grand Rapids where they are
currently being held at the
Juvenile Detention Center.
The two boys, one 16, the
other 17, are from Deer River.
One ofthe suspects was charged
Tuesday in Itasca County. He
faces felony charges— two
counts of second-degree
murder and three counts of
third-degree assault.
Services to commemorate
Terrell's Wilson life will be held
at the Ball Club Community
Center. The wake, starting at
4 p.m.Thursday, will continue
until the funeral at 11 a.m.
Friday.
Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Shig School
Superintendent, Jeff Lindstrom
said Terrell had enrolled just last
fall. As a member ofthe school
family he will be mourned.
School students will be released
from studies early Friday to
attend the services. The school
will in the afternoon for staff in-
service programs. The school
will provide bus transportation
to and from the funeral for any
that wish to attend.
Two men indicted in assault cases
on Red Lake Indian Reservation
Two Red Lake men were
indicted yesterday in federal
court in unrelated cases all
involving assaults on the Red
Lake Indian Reservation.
In the first case, Ronald
Dean Oakgrove Sr., 42, was
charged Dec. 13 with one
count of maiming and one
count of assault resulting in
serious bodily injury. Oak-
grove's indictment alleges that
on Dec. 15, 2008, he did with
intent to torture, main and
disfigure, pour scalding water
and food upon a victim. It also
alleges that Oakgrove did assault the victim resulting in
serious bodily injury.
According to a Federal Bureau of Investigation affidavit,
on Dec. 15 Oakgrove grabbed
a pot of boiling water, grease
and beef, and dumped it over
the victim's head. Oakgrove
then left the residence saying,
"I hope you die!"
The victim was treated for
ASSAULT to page 5
American Indian College Fund
Turns 20 Years Old
Applications for Designated
Scholarships open late January
ByJeanPagano
The American Indian College
Fund turns twenty years old
this year. In 1989, the American
Indian College Fund (AICF)
distributed its first scholarships
to tribal college students. Today,
the AICF offers approximately
5,000 scholarships annually.
The AICF is the third largest
source of scholarships for Native
students, with only Pell grants
and tribal scholarships offering
more funding.
Do Native students really
need scholarships to attend
college? While the answer to this
question in not universally "yes",
many Native students rely on
scholarships to make a college
education a reality. The average
recipients of AICF scholarships
are non-traditional students -
these students have dependents,
work full-time, are over the age
of 24, or combinations of these
three characteristics.
The average income for first
FUND to page 5
In shrinking economy, Red Lake
Band bets on expansion
By Chuck Haga
RED LAKE, Minn. — Cuts,
retrenchment, caution—those
may be the guiding words
across most of Minnesota these
days as the economy shudders.
But the Red Lake Band of
Ojibwe Indians is betting on
expansion.
Betting is the key word.
With a $31 million loan from
the Shakopee Mdewakanton
Sioux Community, Red
Lake has broken ground on
a new Seven Clans Casino
at the southern edge of the
reservation, hoping to draw
more gamblers from nearby
Bemidji and the surrounding
region.
The new casino will be just
seven miles closer to Bemidji
and U.S. Hwy. 2, but positioned
at the border it may seem less
intrusive to visitors as well as
residents of the often insular
reservation. It will replace a
small, makeshift gambling hall,
a former community center at
the heart of Red Lake.
The casino project, scheduled
to be completed by the end of
this year, also will provide the
isolated reservation with a
hotel and upscale restaurant,
among other amenities long
lacking here.
Band operates two other
casinos
Red Lake operates Seven
Clans casinos in Thief River
Falls and Warroad, Minit, and
recently paid off loans that
had financed expansions and
upgrades there. The three
operations reported a combined
net income of nearly $6 million
in 2007 while employing nearly
900 people.
"We have three small
operations, but we seem to
be doing all right," Red Lake
Tribal Chairman Floyd (Buck)
Jourdain said. "We haven't been
so affected by what's happening
with the economy."
A little more than two-thirds
of the $31 million loan will
go toward the new casino
complex, to be built according
to a traditional Ojibwe "long
house" design. It will include
$he all-suites hotel, restaurant
and banquet hall, as well as
an entertainment center and
gift shop. A later development
could wrap a golf course and
powwow grounds around the
complex.
Jourdain said the project
won acceptance from the
6,000-member band "because
it's not all centered on
gaming."
The hotel, restaurant and
meeting areas will nurture
other businesses on the
reservation, he said, and
the project as a whole "will
Convicted tribal members fined,
banned from reservation
By Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
SAN MANUEL INDIAN
RESERVATION - In an
unprecedented move, Chairman
James Ramos has announced
his tribe's decision to fine two
convicted tribal members linked
to a murder conspiracy and ban
them from the reservation.
Decisions made by the tribal
council, composed of all tribal
members over age 21, typically
remain private matters within
the tribe and are never made
public.
Ramos said the tribal
council's Dec. 13 decision to
ban Stacy Barajas-Nunez, 26,
and her brother, Erik Barajas,
36, from the reservation and
fine them a "considerable"
amount of money for disorderly
conduct speaks volumes to the
tribe's position of holding its
members accountable for errant
behavior.
"This isn't just lip service. This
is action in force," Ramos said.
"We're actually taking action
and showing through action,
with overwhelming support, to
impose fines and bans on our
own tribal members."
Ramos wouldn't disclose how
much the Barajases were fined
or how long they will be banned
from the reservation.
He did say the tribe is enforcing
its decision and working with
the San Bernardino County
Sheriffs Department and the
District Attorney's Office to
ensure that Barajas-Nunez and
Barajas remain in compliance.
Barajas' San Bernardino
attorney, Chuck Nascin, declined
BANNED to page 5
Red Lake man
pleads guilty
to burglary,
assault charges
A 48-year-old Red Lake
man pleaded guilty yesterday
in federal court to using a
machete in an assault and
multiple burglary charges.
Robin Greg Kelly Sr. pleaded
guilty to two counts of first-
degree burglary and one count
of assault with a dangerous
weapon. Kelly entered his
plea Jan. 15 in St. Paul before
United States District Court
Judge Richard Kyle. Kelly was
indicted on April 8, 2008.
According to Kelly's plea
agreement, he admitted that
on Dec. 22, 2007, he entered
the residence of his estranged
GUILTY to page 5
VOICE OF THE PEOPLE
web page: www.press-on.net
Native
American
Press
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
A weekly publication. Copyright, Native American Press, 2009
Founded in 1988
Volume 20 Issue 17
January 15, 2009
Courtesy of DSGW. Drawing of the entry
lobby of Seven Clans Red Lake Casino
create more employment and
allow us finally to do a lot of
infrastructure work that we've
needed, including new roads
and a new water system."
Will pay off other debts
About $9.2 million ofthe loan
will allow Red Lake to pay off
debt on other recent projects,
including a law-enforcement
center and a new greenhouse,
and to return the existing
casino to its original purpose
as a family-friendly community
center.
The project's primary aim
is to boost visitor traffic and
gaming revenue, but "this is
going to be for us, too," Jourdain
said. "Right now, you can't
buy a steak anywhere on the
reservation." The restaurant,
hotel, meeting rooms and other
areas will be accessible to Red
Lake members "without ever
setting foot inside a gambling
CASINO to page 5
DAKOTA
PHILOSOPHER
Charles Eastman, American Indian Thought
By David Martinez
Charles Eastman straddled two worlds in his
life and writing. The author of Indian Boyhood
was raised in the traditional way after the 1862
U.S.-Dakota War. His father later persuaded him
study Christianity, and attend medical school.
But when Eastman served as a government
doctor during the Wounded Knee massacre, he
became disillusioned about Americans' capacity
to live up to their own ideals.
While Eastman's contemporaries viewed him
as "a great American and a true philosopher,"
Indian scholars have long dismissed Eastman's
work as assimilationist. Now, for the first time,
his philosophy as manifested in his writing is
examined in detail. David Martinez explores
Eastman's views on the U.S.-Dakota War,
Dakota and Ojibwe relations, Dakota sacred
EASTMAN to page 5
Tribes want
more American
Indians on
federal bench
By MICHAEL R. BLOOD
Associated Press
PALM SPRINGS, Calif. —
Leaders of California's politically
powerful Indian tribes are
pressing the incoming Obama
administration to appoint more
American Indians to the federal
judiciary.
Nearly 900 judges sit on
the federal bench throughout
the country, but government
records show only one claims
American Indian ancestry -
Frank Howell Seay, a senior
district judge in Oklahoma.
In a meeting in Washington
last month, tribal leaders urged
President-elect Barack Obama's
transition team to elevate
more Indians to the federal
courts and to move quickly
on appointments at the U.S.
Bureau of Indian Affairs.
"We need federal Indian
judges," Richard Milanovich,
chairman of the Agua Caliente
Band of Cahuilla Indians, said
at an annual Indian gambling
conference. "There are very
qualified Indian attorneys who
could fill those jobs."
"I'm very optimistic about
our new leadership, since he's
our first president to actually
include tribal leaders in his
considerations," Milanovich
said. "I was very much
encouraged by the fact the
transition team took the time
to meet with tribal leaders."
That was echoed by Lee
Acebedo, executive director of
the California Nations Indian
Gaming Association, who said
the federal bench needs more
judges well versed in Indian
issues.
TRIBES to page 6
Chief: Washington presence
necessary to ensure success
By Teddy Snell Snell
Tahlequah Daily Press
Cherokee Nation Principal
Chief Chad Smith was unable to
give his state ofthe nation address
in person Monday night; however,
he conveyed a strong message to
the council via videotape.
Two weeks ago, the tribe
reported giving $50,000 to the
inauguration of President-elect
Barack Obama, which was
"approved by the administration
and the tribal council," according
to Communications Director
Mike Miller.
Shortlyaftertheannouncement
appeared in the media, several
tribal councilors - including
District 1 Councilor Bill John
Baker - said they didn't approve
such an expenditure. During his
video address, Smith made it
clear the decision was vital to the
CHIEF to page 5
Tribal leader lauds North Dakota
legislative work
By DAVE KOLPACK
Associated Press Writer
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) _
A temporary North Dakota
legislative committee that
focuses on relations between
Indian tribal governments
and the state should be made
permanent, the chairwoman
of the Spirit Lake Nation
believes.
Myra Pearson, speaking
Thursday to a joint session of
the North Dakota House and
Senate, said discussions in
the interim Tribal and State
Relations Committee have
helped promote state aid to
tribal colleges, sharing of oil
and gas tax revenue, and state
income tax exemptions.
"The positive relationship
that has been forged between
the tribal nations and the state
of North Dakota has, in recent
times, produced legislation
resulting in positive changes
and a continuing strengthening
of our relationship," Pearson
said.
The committee's chairman,
Rep. Merle Boucher, D-Rolette,
the House minority leader,
said the panel's meetings are
productive even if they don't
necessarily lead to legislation.
Boucher's district includes
the Turtle Mountain Band of
Chippewa reservation.
"The protocols and the
processes of tribal government
are different than state
government," Boucher said.
"So when we visit back and
forth, we learn how each other's
governments work."
North Dakota's Legislature
meets in odd-numbered years,
typically from January until
mid- to late April. When the
Legislature isn't in session,
interim committees study
selected issues and draft bills
for possible consideration.
Permanent interim
committees are rare. During
the last interim between the
2007 and 2009 sessions, there
were 26 interim committees,
only seven of which were
permanently established in
state law. The authorization for
the Tribal and State Relations
Committee ends Aug. 1.
Boucher and Sen. Richard
Marcellais, D-Belcourt, agree
WORK to page 7